Homemade Dried Apple Peels

I am definitely one of the lucky ones, and I really can’t say it enough. Growing up my Mom was the kind of Mom who always put a homemade meal onto our dinner table. She packed our lunches, made us “puzzle” apples, and always made sure that she was filling our tummies with natural, whole foods. My Mom was that Mom. My Mom is that Mom.

A few weeks ago when we were visiting my parents, we went to their local apple orchard and picked up the very first juicy apples of the season. When we got home, my Mom quickly whipped up her homemade applesauce to go along with my birthday dinner. And then she also whipped up her oven-dried apple peels. And honestly, that was something that I almost forgot about. It’s definitely been a few years since I’ve had them, but these babies were a staple growing up. And really it makes perfect sense. Why throw out a perfectly tasty apple peel, when you could be making it into a delicious little snack?

This recipe may stem from a “waste not, want not” mentality, but it tastes like anything but leftovers. My Mom very cleverly peels her apples a little bit on the thicker side, giving you more apple on the peel. Then she simply tosses the peels with just a smidge of cinnamon sugar, and lays them out onto a baking sheet. The apple peels cook at 285° for roughly an hour (give or take), flipping them about halfway through.

You can cook these less or more depending on how “dry” you would like your peels. And surely you could add more cinnamon sugar, or just use sugar, or just cinnamon, or really nothing at all. But for us, we love them just the way my Mom makes them. And even now I can hear her saying something like, “. . .just adding a little bit of love. . .” as she is sprinkling the peels with the cinnamon sugar. And really that is exactly what she is doing, adding her love.